March 31st to April 4th

Over the last few weeks the students have been working on our new science unit, Space. To engage the students, introduce the unit and develop a sense of their current understanding, the students were challenged to represent the universe using loose parts. The students had a fantastic time collaborating with a peer to represent their understanding of what the universe is. Each representation showed creativity and a variety of components including, different planets, stars, moons, asteroids and black holes. Students were excited to share and compare their representations to those of others.

Next, we examined the difference between the universe and our Solar System. We learned about the objects that make up our Solar System, researching the planets, their moons, stars and our sun. Next, the students represented their learning in a visual journal page.

We then learned about the size of the planets and worked to measure the different planets to scale to help them to better visualize how large the planets are compared to the moon, sun and to the other planets.

We were also very fortunate to have the opportunity to take part with a special presentation and hands on experience with coding using Ozobots. The students learned about and practiced coding as they collaborated with a partner to create codes to have their Ozobot complete a variety of challenges.

Learning Outcomes:

The universe includes all of space and everything in it.

Objects in space include

the Moon

the Sun (a star)

stars and their planets

planets and their moons

Most objects in space are more easily observed at night.

Technologies for viewing objects in space include

binoculars

telescopes

planetariums

Questions to ask your child:

What do you include in your loose parts representation of the solar system?

What is an interesting fact you learned about one of the planets in our Solar System?

What did you think when you saw the size of the different objects in our Solar System?

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June 16th to June 20th

It is heard to believe that this was our final week week of the school year. The time has definitely flown past. Despite how close we are to the end of the year, the students have been working incredibly hard his week. We finished up our work in angles in math and the students completed their social studies research on The North West Mounted Police and early settlement in Alberta. Then, they worked to represent their learning in a Google Slideshow. This was a perfect connection to our Western Heritage Day where we enjoyed a pancake breakfast and afternoon of Western themes games with our buddies. We were also incredibly to learn about hoop dancing through a fantastic performance by Jay Genaille.

May 26th to May 30th

The start of our week was full with our final preparations for our Celebration of Learning. The students put the final touches on their food trucks and worked to fold and tape their two dimensional net into their three dimensional truck. The students were so excited to see their trucks come to life. For many, this final step was challenging as they worked to carefully cut and fold their trucks. We then did some work with three dimensional shapes including cubes, cylinders and cones as the students added toppers to their trucks. Students then had the opportunity to create a digital version of their food truck using Canva. They learned that by thinking carefully through their logo elements and describing them with a good amount of detail, they were able to create a digital logo that very closely resembled their hand drawn work. We may have some future graphic designers on our hands! Our Makerspace challenge this week was also connected to our trucks. Students were asked collaborate with ...

May 12th to May 15th

This week, the students continued with their work on their food trucks. The students have been so excited and engaged with this project, many sharing that it is their favourite part of the day. The students worked to apply their understanding of area by designing the interior floor plan of their truck. First, we looked at what items would be necessary to drive, prepare their menu items, store supplies and run their business. Some students needed deep fryers, others grills and some needed ice cream machines. Next, we the students planned out the interiors and designed their floor plans. Students were challenged to design their plans to scale with 1 square cm on the grid paper equivalent to 1 dm in real life. This challenge brought about wonderful critical thinking as the students measured and planned, imagining the amount of space needed to travel within their workspace or how much space was needed in the front of their truck so they would have enough space to sit and reach the gas pedd...

Mrs. Pols' Fantastic Fours

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